Motor vehicle steering apparatus



NOV. 14, 1950 ROZWQOD 2,529,967

MOTOR VEHICLE STEERING APPARATUS Filed March 29,- 1948 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 Fig.3.

Peter L Rozwood INVENTOR.

flame? Nov. 14, 1950 P. ROZWOOD MOTOR VEHICLE STEERING APPARATUS 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed March 29, 1948 Peter Rozwood INVENTOR. dog? BY QM wm vm Patented Nov. 14, 1950 UNITED STATES ear NT orrice Claims. 1

This invention relates to improvements in a motor vehicle steering and driving mechanism and has for its principal object to selectively drive either both or one of the rear wheels, coincidentally and correspondingly with the turning or predetermined path of travel of the front steering wheels.

Another object of this invention is to facilitate the transmission or communication of driving power to each of the rear wheels separately or simultaneously and to move the wheels selectively out of engagement with the driving power.

Another object of this invention is to facilitate and render more convenient the parking; sharp turning etc. of vehicles by enabling the rear wheels to be individually driven responsive to the sharp turning movement of the steering wheels.

Another object of this invention is to provide a mechanism for performing the above stated and other objects which is simple of construc tion, economical to manufacture and reliable and durable in operation and performance.

These and ancillary objects are attained by this invention a preferred embodiment of which, by way of illustration is set forth in the following description and illustrated in the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure l is a bottom plan View of a motor vehicle showing this invention applied thereto;

Figure 2 is a view in perspective of the structure provided for effecting the selective engagement with the driving power of the rear or driven wheels;

Figure 3 is a vertical sectional View taken on the longitudinal plane of lines 33 of Figure 1;

Figure 4 is an enlarged perspective view of the structure shown in Figure 2 and illustrated in association with the motor vehicle and the driving power, as shown generally in Figure 1;

Figure 5 is a sectional view of the gear ar-' rangement shown generally in Figures 4 and 5;

Figure 6 is a detail enlarged structural view of the steering connection; and,

Figures 7, 8 and 9 are enlarged views illustrating the various selective positions of the gears, for driving the rear wheels, relative to the path of travel of the steering or front wheels.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings, wherein similar characters of reference designate corresponding parts throughout there is shown generally a motor vehicle l0, comprising a main frame 52 of the chassis, having secured thereto a front axle [4 with front wheels 01. fist-6.32)

i6 and i8 attached to the ends thereof as customary and conventional.

Secured to the top of the frame in any suitable manner is a steering shaft 2i! and an attached steering wheel 22, with the shaft til journaled in'a bracket 24 secured to the frame and having its extended end received through a support or hearing bracket 2%, which'is seated on the frame and bolted th reto as at'28. Received on themedial portion of the shaft and keyed or otherwise secured thereon is a steering column 32, which is suitably spirally milled or grooved as at 34.

Received on the spirally grooved column or sleeve and actuated thereby is a bracket arm 3%, which depends in an arcuate shape and has a terminating bifurcation 38, which is pivoted to a pitman bar ill by pivot pin Q2 received in a suitable slot 3? in the bar. The pitman bar is pivoted as at M; to the longitudinal side of the frame 52 and has its depending terminal pivoted by pin 45 to an actuating rod 48.

The rod 38 extends forwardly of the frame and is pivoted by pin 5?) to an arcuate link 52 having its opposite rearwardly extendin ter minal pivoted as at 55 to a complementary oppositely directed link 6@, the links 52 and til defining'an S shaped linkage 5 3, with the terminating portion of link 58] pivoted by swivel pin to the end of the lateral front axle i i. The swivel pin E2 extends through the end'of the link 56 and joins an arm-t6 to the underside of the axle M, in pivotal attachment thereto. A similar pin 53 extends through the opposite end of the axle l4 and secures an arm t l to the underside of the axle.

The armst i and 66 extend rearwardly of the axle and are pivoted as at 68 and is to the extending apertured' cars 52 and Moi intermediate lateral link rods'iii'and 758, which are pivoted at their lateral terminals to a transverse pitman or cross bar 3G by pins 82 and 84.

Secured to the pins 82 and B4 in pivotal engagement with the link rods l6 and 18 and supported laterally by the .cross bar Sit are'longitudinally rearwardlycxtending actuating bar's 8'5 and 88, which have their extending ends secured by pins 98 and 92 to slide bars 94 and 96 which are substantially H-shaped and are longitudinally slidably disposed in elongated slots 93 and H10 formed in the sides of the frame [2.

Pivotally secured to the actuating bars 36 and 8 adjacent their pivoted ends 92 and is a cross support bar I62, which is attached pivotally at its ends'by pins H14 and H16.

Projecting rearwardly and pinned as at I08 to the medial section of the cross support bar I02 is a central bracket extension III], to be later described. An arcuate rigidifying piece II2 has its ends secured by pins I04 and I06 to the actuating bar 86 and 88 and is secured to the central extension I I6 at its medial arcuate section by pin I I4.

Rear wheels H6 and H8, of conventional description, are secured to axles I20 and I22, which extend through the slide bars 94 and 96, having suitable slots formed therein to accommodate the laterally inwardly projecting axles. Of course, conventional and customary elliptical springs I24, I26, I28 and I30 serve as shock absorbers and are longitudinally secured under the axles and have their ends received or seated in depending apertured channel brackets I 32 and I34, which are welded to the frame. Suitable fastening means, such as bolt and nuts I36, ex-

tend through the apertures in the channel brackets and afix the springs thereto.

Keyed or otherwise permanently received on the extending ends of the axle I20 is a sleeve I38, having extending tongues I40 disposed on opposite sides thereof. Similarly received on the axle I 22 is a sleeve I42, having oppositely disposed re-entrant grooves I44 formed on the extending end thereof.

Received within the sleeves I38 and I42 and freely rotatable therein is an idler shaft I46, which is positioned medially between the sides of the frame I2 and has received thereon a sleeve I48. The sleeve I48 centrally supports a gear I50 and has its oppositely extending ends formed in prongs or tongues I52 and grooves I54, both of which are oppositely disposed on the shaft I48 and extend above and below the shaft for a purpose to be later described.

Spaced in front of the gear I50 on the shaft I46 and transversely supported by the sides of the frame I2 is a secured shaft I56, which has suitably received thereon a bearing sleeve I58, upon which is rotatably received a transversely spread gear I60, which meshes with the gear I50, which is slidably positioned relative thereto. Supported on the sleeve I58 and secured to the end of gear I 60 is a bevel gear I62, which is engaged by a bevel gear I64, keyed on the end of a drive shaft I66, with a suitable universal connection I68 interposed therein. A bearing bracket arm II supports the drive shaft I66 adjacent the sleeve I58 and has its attached end II2 suitably welded to the sleeve.

The central extension IIO has an extending enlarged substantially rectangular section I14, which is longitudinally slotted defining control arms I16 and H8, which are received around the sleeve I48 on each side of the gear I50 and extend around the sleeve and are welded to themselves. The middle portion serves as a cover piece for the gears I50 and I60 and terminates at a slight extended distance around the gear I56.

General operation Referring now to Figures 1 and 8, the vehicle is shown in a straight path of travel and the rear wheels or drive wheels II6 and'I'I8 are rotated together, through the medium of the drive shaft I66, which through the beveled gears I64 and I62 rotates the gear I60. Accordingly, the gear I50 is kept in a central engagement with the gear I60, due to the straight placement of the control arms I76 and I18, which respond to the directional path of the front wheels I6 and I8 and the opposite tongues I52 and I54 on each side integral with and extending from the gear are received or receive the tongue or prongs I40 of the axle I22 sleeve I38 and the grooves I44 of the sleeve I42, so that each axle I22 and I20 is rotated.

However, with respect to Figures 1, 3 and '7 of the drawings, when the steering wheel 22, for puropses of turning is turned sharply to the right, the bracket arm 36, through the spinal grooved column 32 is pushed forwardly, moving the arcuate bar 40 on its frame pivot 44 and actuating the rod 46 forwardly. The rod 48, as seen in Figure 6,

'moves the link 52 and and correspondingly turns the wheel I6 to the right. At the same time, the arm 66 is moved to the right, causing the lateral link rod I8 to pivot on pins 62 and pull bar rearwardly, causing lateral rod I6 to be pushed, accenting arm 64 and turning wheel I8 to the right.

When the arm I8 is moved and bar 80 and arm I6 are moved in the above noted path the longitudinal actuating arm 86 is moved back and arm 88 is pulled forwardly. The arm 86, moving rearwardly, causes the slide bar 94 to move back in the slot I00 and likewise but conversely, the slide bar 06 is slid forwardly by bar 88. Thus, the arcuate bar H2 and support bar I02 are moved to the right causing arms I I6 and H8 to slide the gear I50 along on gear I60 and moving the grooves [54 out of engagement with the tongues I40 of the right wheel I I6 and urging the tongues I52 into engagement with groove I42. Thus wheel II8 is driven, while wheel H6 idles freely. It is to be noted that due to the curved extremities of the prongs and groove entrances the same correspond and are easily moved into actuated engagement by a sliding action responsive to the control arms I16 and I18.

With reference to Figure 9, there is shown the gear assembly, when wheel I I6 is driven and wheel I I8 idles. The actuation of the gear I50 and corresponding sleeve I43 and engaging components is controlled by the arms I16 and I18, which in turn react to the turning of the front wheels, by means of the above described linkage system.

However, since many other purposes and modifications of this invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art, upon a perusal of the foregoing disclosure, in view of the accompanying drawings, it is to be understood that certain changes in size, style and arrangement of parts may be effected thereon, without a, departure from the spirit of the invention and within the scope of the appended claims.

Having described the invention, what is claimed as new is: I

l. A steering and running mechanism for a four wheel motor vehicle comprising a frame, a pair of steerable wheels carried by said frame, a steering column mounted onsaid frame, a depending bracket arm, actuated by said column, a steering linkage connected between said arm and said wheels, a pair of longitudinal actuating arms pivoted to said steering linkage and responsive to movement thereof, a rear wheel assembly carried by said frame including a pair of axles having wheels journaled on their extending ends, an intermediate idler shaft interposed between said axles, a rigid shaft transversely carried by the frame in spaced proximity to the idler shaft, a sleeve slidably positioned'on said idler shaft, oppositely extending prongs and grooves on said sleeve, complementary engaging elements carried by said axles, means responsive to the longitudinal movement of the actuating arms for slidably moving said idler shaft sleeve on the shaft, a gear carried by said sleeve, a driving gear on said rigid shaft in constant engagement with the sleeve gear, bevel gears in engagement with said driving gear, a drive shaft connected to one of the bevel gears.

2. A steering and running mechanism for a power-driven vehicle comprising a frame, a pair of steerable wheels carried by said frame, a steering linkage for said Wheels, a pair of longitudinally extending actuating arms pivoted to said steering linkage and responsive to movement thereof, a driving wheel assembly carried by said frame including a pair of axles having wheels journaled on their extending ends, an idler shaft interposed between said axles, a rigid shaft carried by said frame parallel to said idler shaft, a driving gear on said rigid shaft, a sleeve slidably and rotatably disposed on said idler shaft, a gear fixed on said sleeve in constant mesh with said driving gear, means carried by said axles for operatively securing said axles to said sleeve, means controlled by said actuating arms for selectively moving said sleeve into engagement with said preceding means.

3. A steering and running mechanism for a power-driven vehicle comprising a frame, a pair of steerable wheels carried by said frame, a steering linkage for said wheels, a pair of longitudinally extending actuating arms pivotally connected to said steering linkage and responsive to movement thereof, a driving wheel assembly carried by said frame and including a pair of axle sections having wheels journaled on the extending ends thereof, an intermediate idler shaft interposed between said axles, a driving shaft, a driving gear carried by said driving shaft and disposed adjacent said idler shaft, a sleeve slidably and rotatably disposed on said idler shaft, a gear fixed on said sleeve and disposed in constant mesh with said driving gear, sleeves fixed on said axles, means for connecting said sleeves to the shaft sleeve for driving said axles, an actuating assembly for moving said sleeve selectively into engage- -ment with the axle sleeves and means operatively REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 759,559 Scott May 10, 1904 1,139,634 Brisson May 18, 1915 1,367,309 Dunham Feb. 1, 1921 1,894,698 Markham Jan. 13, 1933 2,055,860 Faries et a1 Sept. 29, 1936 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 535.398 France Apr. 13, 1922 269,432 Great Britain Apr. 21, 1927- 

